


A Chance Meeting

by luna_8



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Gay, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:55:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24981931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luna_8/pseuds/luna_8
Summary: Duck is on the trails at Yosemite National Park for this story. He finds a mysterious creature in the woods...
Relationships: Duck Newton/Original Male Character(s)





	A Chance Meeting

Duck Newton stood at the peak of Sentinel Dome, Yosemite National Park. Duck looked frumpy in the tan collared shirt and forest-green slacks of his park ranger uniform. He didn’t even consider that to be a problem, he felt he was merely a steward of the Park. People were here to see the natural beauty of the Yosemite Valley, not his amusing uniform.  
Sentinel Dome doesn’t stand as proud as Half Dome, the proudest mountain he ever saw, but Duck enjoyed the view regardless. The vertical climb up Half Dome’s steep face was genuinely dangerous. A system of ropes and ladders made the climb possible at all. It’s a mountain to be conquered, not hiked. Duck, in his thirties now and beginning to feel the effects of aging, appreciated the relative ease of the climb up Sentinel Dome, though it did take considerable effort on a near vertical stretch close to the peak. Unlike the aloof monument to Sisyphean struggle that is Half Dome, which discourages travelers and is only ascended by thrill seekers or somebody with something to prove, Sentinel Dome welcomes travelers. The mountain beckons travelers to spend a half day’s journey with the mountain itself to just be together, watching the river cut through the valley below and the stars go by in a procession. As Duck looked up at the crisp, deep blue sky he couldn’t help but think that the sky really does look closer from the peak. He imagined throwing a rock at the solid blue sheet of sky above him, creating a fissure in the sky and watching as the stars flow through to fill the valley below.

  
It was getting close to dusk and Duck knew he couldn’t stay on that peak any longer. He struggled down the rocky path and avoided falling to cracks in the ground that would swallow up anyone who made a careless step. Only having made it a short stretch down the mountain he came across what looked like a bear. His heart sank into his stomach and he hid behind a tree, sucking in his pudgy midsection so it didn’t stick out from the tree’s profile. There was rustling down the path, and Duck was certain that the large furry creature hadn’t seen him. The breaking of branches and rustles of leaves sounded different from the other bears he had encountered. It almost sounded as if the bear was walking on two legs like a lost hiker. With his eyes squinted both in curiosity and to see better at a distance Duck’s eyes suddenly widened when he saw that the bear was in fact walking on two legs. Then the creature turned its massive, hairy body towards him. The creature was no bear, that was Bigfoot.

  
They locked eyes for a few seconds that felt like minutes, and then the hairy bipedal ape ran down the trail. Duck took off running for the creature. He knew it was bad practice to chase after an animal that was minding their own business, but it’s not every day that you get to meet Bigfoot. Duck noticed the creature didn’t run very fast because he was actually catching up to it at his slow running speed. Then the creature fell and rolled down the path. Duck stopped, not knowing where the creature had disappeared from, but then swore he heard a voice yelling from where there was a steep drop off a few meters from the edge of the path. The ranger inside of him sprung into action and he mustered his strength and sprinted towards the cries for help. There he saw a furry hand grasped onto the cliff face and an apelike face staring back. Questioning his sanity but still fueled by adrenaline Duck reached out a hand and Bigfoot swung his free hand up. Duck pulled with all his strength and the hairy creature climbed up to rest his ribcage on the cliff edge, and then kicked his legs over the side.  
With Bigfoot laid out at his feet Duck looked closer at the mythical beast he had saved from the brink of death. Bigfoot was panting and sighing in a tone of voice that sounded like that of a human male. Then Duck noticed the zipper running down the beast’s fur. Duck audibly sighed and asserted with a genuine smile on his face,  
“That’s some strange hiking gear you’ve got.”  
The creature laughed, way higher pitch than one would expect from someone as big as the person who was laying at Duck’s feet. Then Bigfoot reached up and pulled the ape head off his costume. Revealed was a man in his twenties with short blonde hair and red in the face from panting, sweating so much he looked like he had gotten caught in a storm. The smell was very strong when the mask came off, and Duck was knocked a bit off balance when his brain processed the smell of body odor that had hit his nostrils.  
“You just saved my life,” the attractive but wet man in the outrageous costume said while panting.  
“I was just doing my job,” Duck replied, “I thought I found a bear back there.”  
“Well it seems I found a bear too,” the bigfoot impostor said behind a smirk. Duck couldn’t help but smile a bit, even blushing at the compliment.  
Duck collected himself and asked, “Now to address the elephant in the room, why were you up here in a Bigfoot costume?”  
The creature impersonator’s cocky smile faded, and he replied, “Well my friend and I were going to film myself wandering around the woods at night in this Bigfoot costume and post it on the internet. I decided to come up here tonight before we shoot tomorrow.”  
“So you’re telling me you were alone up here on Sentinel Dome wandering off the trail in a Bigfoot costume for no reason,” Duck asserted to the man at his feet with as much authority he could muster without laughing at the absurdity of the situation.  
“Well, uh, yeah,” the man on the ground stammered.  
“You’re lucky I found you. You shouldn’t hike the trails alone. Let’s get you back home,” Duck replied, too relieved that he had saved this man’s life to scold him further. Duck reached out a hand to this man for the second time that night and helped him to his feet.  
“What is your name stranger?” Duck asked the man in the suit.  
“It’s Brad,” he replied, smiling to reassure the Park Ranger standing before him, but Duck was already smiling. The two men walked into the sunset down the trail exchanging stories and telling tall tales. Their laughter could be heard from miles around.

It was three years later in an RV on a park near Yosemite. The smell of bacon cooking on a grill wafted up into Duck’s nostrils. He smiled at the trees lining the campsite absently, taking in the moment. He was wearing no shirt, just pair of baggy shorts and his boots. He had gotten in slightly better shape but his soft, yet robust, body was still as adorable as before. His chest was covered in hair, one could say like Bigfoot. He had grown an impressive beard that was already showing grey hairs in his time since the night he met Brad.  
The door of the RV swung open and Brad sauntered out of the RV. "I smell bacon!" Brad shouted, his toned body easy to make out under the tank top and boxers he had slept in. He walked over to Duck and held onto his back. He rested his head on Duck’s shoulder and smiled, comforted by his man. “I love you honey.”  
Duck smiled too, the smile of a man who had found true happiness in life, “I love you too.” Then he turned around and held Brad in his arms, kissed him slowly and softly on his lips and whispered, “I would be so lost without you.”


End file.
